Arch Linux

semitone36

Member

Registered: 2009-03-02

Posts: 34

[SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

Hey all

Im sure that this will be the first post of many as I learn to use arch so please bear with me.

I have an Atheros AR242x wireless chipset and I know that it is compatible with linux but I cant seem to activate it.  Ive tried following the Wireless Setup guide but without the right module(?) i cant follow the instructions... Can anyone please help me or direct me to a howto?

Here is the output of lspci | grep -i net:

00:14.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

And the output of lspci | grep ath:

ath5k                 108544  0
mac80211              182960  1 ath5k
cfg80211               36896  2 ath5k,mac80211
led_class               6280  2 ath5k,asus_laptop

I understand that I have the ath5k module installed but it doesnt appear to do anything and I should also have madwifi installed too.

Last edited by semitone36 (2009-03-30 02:55:07)

semitone36

Member

Registered: 2009-03-02

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

Okay, im sorry everyone,  I feel pretty dumb lol.  I didnt restart my box after installing madwifi.  Gah!

So now it appears that my wireless card has been activated and it can detect networks/connect to them but when i run dhcpcd ath0 it doesnt request an address and just times out:

$ sudo dhcpcd ath0
ath0: dhcpcd 4.0.10 starting
ath0: broadcasting for a lease
ath0: timed out

Anybody care to take a shot at this one?  Or should I just restart my computer to fix it ?

benerivo

Member

Registered: 2008-02-02

Posts: 30

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

I have the same reported wireless chip,  but i didn't need any configuration (i think the first time i got it working  i did do some setup up based upon the wiki). For me, the wireless works successfully (using wicd) without any configuration.

sharpie

Member

From: Phoenix, AZ

Registered: 2008-11-16

Posts: 72

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

The wireless network you're connecting to...  Try to connect to it and get DHCP without wireless security.  If the connection is WPA secured, then you can broadcast all you want but it won't return.

semitone36

Member

Registered: 2009-03-02

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

It should be WEP secured.  And unfortunately its not really my place to change the security settings on this wireless network.

I have the key to it and can connect to the router but I cant request an address for some reason...

R00KIE

Forum Fellow

From: Between a computer and a chair

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 4,734

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

Same card here and it works just fine with ath5k, give wicd a try to manage your wireless (and wired) connections.

$ lspci | grep Atheros
06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

$ lsmod | grep ath5k
ath5k                 100864  0 
mac80211              161184  1 ath5k
led_class               5508  2 asus_laptop,ath5k
cfg80211               31760  2 ath5k,mac80211

---

R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

semitone36

Member

Registered: 2009-03-02

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

I was planning on trying out wicd as soon as I got all the bugs worked out with this.  Im at a friends hows atm and his nework isnt encrypted and I have no problem connecting to his network.  So far it just seems that I cant get an address on encrypted networks.

sharpie

Member

From: Phoenix, AZ

Registered: 2008-11-16

Posts: 72

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

You're probably entering the wep key wrong then.

sudo iwconfig ath0 essid FOO key BAR

Last edited by sharpie (2009-03-29 15:00:32)

semitone36

Member

Registered: 2009-03-02

Posts: 34

Re: [SOLVED]Cannot request an ip address for wireless network

I think I may have solved the problem.  I installed wpa_supplicant and now I can connect just fine... Maybe I was wrong and the network was WPA afterall?  I dunno but thanks for the responses everyone!